There are many Nightlords to challenge in FromSoftware's newly released co-op roguelike Elden Ring Nightreign, but before you can hunt them, you'll first need to target and defeat the game's first major boss: Gladius, Beast of Night. This three-headed, Cerberus-like wolf may be positioned somewhat as a tutorial boss as you learn how to play the experimental Elden Ring offshoot in the Tricephalos Expedition, but make no mistake: it's not an easy battle, and treating it like one will inevitably lead to your quick demise.
With that said, Gladius is still arguably simpler to take down than the Nightlords it's gatekeeping, and once you and your allies understand each of its moves, how to avoid them, and when it's best to go on the offensive yourself, the fight becomes a lot easier. Taking advantage of the boss' damage type weakness and using Nightfarers optimal for the battle helps, too (though you can be successful with any character).
For a full overview of all of that information as well as some additional tips and tricks, give the thorough and detailed guide for the fight below a close read.
Gladius, Beast of Night weakness and best classes
- Gladius is weak to Holy damage, so try and put together a build with it during the run leading up to your fight with it. Look for enemy camps marked with a Holy icon (golden yellow line with magic particles) and defeat the miniboss at them for a decent chance at a quality Holy weapon.
- The best Nightfarer characters to use against Gladius are melee-centric fighters like Wylder, Guardian, Raider, and Executor. While ranged Nightfarers such as Ironeye and Recluse will still work, the nature of Gladius' ranged attacks will make it difficult to do damage consistently.
- This is definitely a fight to avoid doing a solo run for, as Gladius' second phase involves multiple targets. Being alone will make that phase extremely difficult as a result, as they'll all attack you at once.
- Gladius deals Physical and Fire damage with its moveset, most of which is involves Physical attacks. Try to build resistances to these damage types with the upgrades you find if you can, and consider blocking with a greatshield if you find one if you're struggling to dodge the boss' Physical moves.
Boss guide: How to beat Gladius, Beast of Night
- In Phase 1 of the fight with Gladius, most of its attacks are bites and headbutts from its trio of heads. Roll forward and past these, then stick to his sides and legs. Doing so will give you time to get a few hits in, and will also force the boss to turn to target you again.
- At a distance, Gladius tends to swing its chained sword through the air in three horizontal sweeps, the first close to its body and the last two expanding outwards. Roll through the sweeps or jump over them. Note that if you're close to Gladius, you only have to avoid the first sweep; the second and third will miss you entirely, giving you multiple seconds to get free damage in.
- Alternatively, Gladius can also target one player with its sword by swinging it into the air vertically and then bringing it down onto someone from above. This is a heavier hitting strike, but also easier to see coming. Dodge in any direction away from the sword slam to avoid damage, and try to close the distance and get hits in if you're not the one the boss is looking at.
- From afar, Gladius may also quickly rear its head back before breathing a large blast of fire at you. Rolling forward through the flames is simple enough, but the telegraph for the fire breath is short, so be ready to dodge fast. Do keep in mind, though, that you'll need to delay your roll a bit if you're far away and the fire has to travel to you for a moment.
- Gladius' deadliest Phase 1 attack is a grab in which it winds up by opening its jaws and becomes surrounded in a purple aura. Dodge this bite like any other; while well-telegraphed, this move does very severe damage and might kill you outright if you're on a low HP Nightfarer, so dodging it is absolutely crucial.
Gladius, Beast of Night Phase 2
Phase 2 of the fight with Gladius begins fairly early compared to most other multiphase Soulsborne bosses, as it starts when his health is about 70% or so. It kicks off with Gladius turning himself into three fireballs you have to roll through if they fly towards you; each of these projectiles then turns into an individual one-headed version of Gladius. Here's how to deal with this new maneuver and finish the fight.
- Each one-headed Gladius has the same attacks as its combined form, but only the one with the sword on its back can do the aforementioned sword moves. Keep that in mind during this stage of the battle.
- Each player on your team should try and draw the aggro of one of the wolves, ensuring nobody gets overwhelmed by multiple. If several wolves do target you, avoid attacking entirely and focus on careful dodging until your allies come to support you.
- The wolves tend to rotate between passive and aggressive behaviors, but when the one with the sword roars, all three will gain red eyes and attack. As a collective team, it's important that everyone gets ready to dodge follow-up bites when this happens.
- Successfully doing so and then landing a few retaliatory hits deals extra stagger damage, potentially leading to a stance break and an opportunity for a critical hit.
- Eventually, the wolves will coalesce back into Gladius' combined form, at which point he'll be able to use two additional moves:
- Firstly, after his usual sword attacks, Gladius will add a new one in which he leaps into the air, lifts the sword high, and then slams it down in an explosion. Dodge through the explosion or sprint behind Gladius as he's in the air to avoid the threat entirely.
- Gladius may also draw its fiery sword before slamming it into the ground, then ripping it out to send a wave of fire at you. Avoid this by rolling forward through the blaze in the same way you dodge his fire breaths.
- Gladius will fight you in his combined form for 45 seconds or so before splitting into three wolves again. Knowing that, you'll start to get a feel for when he's going to perform the split and can better prepare.
Do your best to stick close to Gladius throughout the fight and punish it after dodging its moves if you're a melee character, or get what damage you can in if using a ranged Nightfarer while carefully avoiding its sword slashes and fire breaths. Eventually, the mighty Beast of Night will fall, and you'll have slain your first of many Nightlords to come.
Elden Ring Nightreign is a bold new experimental spinoff from FromSoftware that spices up the original game's Soulsborne combat with a roguelike, co-op driven twist. Though it has sizable issues like only having one map or underwhelming enemy variety, it's nevertheless going to be one of this year's best Xbox games and best PC games for Souls fans craving action. It's $39.99, but you can get it for $33.99 at Newegg with the promo code XVSAVE.
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